Sit-up exercise is a common exercise for building abdominal muscles. It is particularly used for sports and military personnel trainings. It is an exercise that can be performed conveniently without equipment, and space requirement. While many individuals are performing sit-up type exercises as part of an exercise regimen, it is oftentimes difficult to maintain a proper sit-up position where the heels are in contact with a base plane. While the individual can extend his feet beneath a heavy object such as a piece of furniture or can enlist the aid of an assistant to maintain contact with the base plane, these options are not always available and can be somewhat uncomfortable to the individual.
Various devices have been developed over the years in attempts to enable the individual to properly and comfortably perform sit-up type exercises. Many of these devices are of the type which engage the lower portion of a door to provide an anchor for the one or more of the individual's feet. An example of such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,592 to Sharkey, which discloses a foot-restraining device mounted on the footboard of the bed to facilitate exercise. However, the device is relatively inflexible in regard to the position relative to the footboards and the area for accommodating the feet of the patient for exercise purposes. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,804 to Addair illustrates the multiple strap array for mattresses with hand loop projections, which requires mattress removal and handling for installation.
Additionally, McJunkin Jr, et al's U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,184 describes a bed mountable exercise device provided with bicycle type pedals. Another illustration of a bed mounted strap is within U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,343 to Kulka, showing a strap, which provides support for the bedding to be held above the feet. Other anchoring devices for sit-up type exercises which have foot engaging means mounted on U-shaped brackets which are adapted to be secured to the bottom of a door by clamping means are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,116,434 and 4,185,816 to Bernstein; U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,458 to Bizilia; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,022 to Wu. A further door mounted device is shown by Melton in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,270 which provides a rigid element captured by a door bottom.
Another portable exercise apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,893 of Waters, disclosing an exercise strap for use by two individuals engaging feet together against a base plate.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved exercise apparatus, which can be readily installed in operative position on a bed and be utilized by bedridden or comfortably reclining individuals to perform simple exercises while in bed, with little or no assistance from attendants. Therefore, it is anticipated that there is a need for a simple, portable bed mountable exercise accessory, which can assist individuals in performing sit-up exercise. It is desirable to have such equipment to be lightweight, compact, attractive, inexpensive, easy to operate and transport, and operative in a comfortable environment.